Dreamers' fix for the 'Q' and Balboa Park

The Quigley design imagines sound bouncing off the overhead panels and reflecting back to the fans to enhance the aural experience. The undersides of the panels might be fitted with giant videoscreens.
— Rob Wellington Quigley Architecture

The Quigley design imagines sound bouncing off the overhead panels and reflecting back to the fans to enhance the aural experience. The undersides of the panels might be fitted with giant videoscreens.
/ Rob Wellington Quigley Architecture

The 12 unbuilt dreams of San Diego

The San Diego Architectural Foundation identified these big ideas out of many that remain to be implemented:

City of Villages: Former Mayor Dick Murphy’s five pilot villages to demonstrate the value of walkable, livable neighborhoods have yet to be completed.

New regional airport: San Diego has been debating alternatives to Lindbergh Field for more than 60 years, but so far, no candidates have met the sniff test of public acceptance.

City Hall: Then-Mayor Jerry Sanders, preoccupied with other fiscal issues, scotched a public-private partnership for a new structure.

North Embarcadero Visionary Plan: The first phase is nearing completion at the western waterfront downtown but no funding’s in sight for the the second phase that would carry the beautification north toward Lindbergh Field.

San Diego Convention Center expansion: The plans and financing have been approved but the $520 million third phase of the 1989 center is mired in litigation.

“Wings of Freedom”: The proposed 400- and 500-foot wing-like, privately funded sculptures on Navy Pier are on hold pending a comprehensive redo of the port master plan.

Lane Field: This one-time ballpark site for the minor league Padres at the foot of Broadway is still a parking lot after more than 50 years. But a ground breaking is scheduled in May for the first of two planned hotel towers.

Chargers stadium: The team has been lobbying for a new facility for more than a decade. The site and financing remain up in the air.

Regional master plans: John Nolen’s 1908 plan for San Diego (highlights: civic center and bay-park “paseo”) and 1974’s “Temporary Paradise?” study by Kevin Lynch and Donald Appleyard (they called for new towns to replace bayfront military bases and Lindbergh Field) are among many visionary plans lacking visionaries to carry them out.

The Arc: Architect Rob Quigley offered a breathtaking concept for an arc-shaped extension of land near Seaport Village in 2004. But the only major change in the area is The Headquarters redo of the old San Diego Police Department complex, which opened last year.

San Diego River Park: A green and blue ribbon from Mission Bay to Mission Trails Regional Park sounds wonderful, but there are property rights and money issues in the way.

Balboa Park 2115: After next year’s centennial celebration of the park’s Panama-California Exposition, thoughts turn to many choices for the region’s crown jewel in the century ahead.